Category: News

Love was in the air last Wednesday night as The Empty Bottle and Pacifico Beer hosted Chicago hip-hop favorites JOEY PURP, KNOX FORTUNE and DJ THELONIOUS MARTIN for a very special Valentine’s Day Show.
DJ THELONIOUS MARTIN, who was spinning on stage under the revolving shine of the disco ball, set the mood before anyone even had time to grab their first drinks. What a sweetheart. By the second sip he had the crowd grooving and swooning to everything from r&b classics, hints of remixed funk and even some Gwen Stefani. The transitions were smooth, and the vibe was set for the night.
After a couple rounds, Chicago producer and rookie album releaser KNOX FORTUNE took to the stage to bring his late-night sounds to the hungry and energetic crowd. The anticipation was palpable, the energy sapable, you could almost drink the excitement stirring about. Pairing tracks together like an expert mixologist, KNOX, in signature style, flowed the likes of Connan Mockasin, Miguel and even some left-field Beatles for a truly unruly set.
Last to take the stage was none other than the matchmaker of the evening, JOEY PURP. Alongside him was STIX and PETER COTTONTALE of THE SOCIAL EXPERIMENT band providing some live instrumentation, which created some very unique stylings of tracks from JOEY’s earlier recordings.
He mused the crowd like everyone was his soulmate, impressing at all costs playing signatures off “iiidrops”, bringing out fellow Chicago rapper KAMI to join the party and even teasing new music from his long-awaited follow up project “Quarter Thing”. To seal the deal, JOEY’S debut at the Bottle wouldn't have been complete unless the crowd hauled him back onto the stage for a final nightcap track where he blasted his beloved song “Girls @” before finally saying goodnight.
Blood was flowing and the taps stayed pouring as another Valentine’s Day at the Empty Bottle came to a close, till next year ya lovebirds!
Review by Allen Stewart. Photography by Victoria Sanders.

1/10 | Impossible Colors ‘Down in the Trumps’: A Benefit for the Chicago Community Bond Fund: We kicked this streak off on 1/10, when Impossible Colors rolled through with a benefit for the Chicago Community Bond Fun. Civil rights lawyer and musician, Adele Nicholas, collaborated
with artist Kriss Stress to compile a 14 track mixtape to protest against the ideology of where our political system is heading in the upcoming weeks. All proceeds of the mixtape were donated to the Chicago Community Bond Fund while ticket sales from the 1/10 show went towards helping Planned Parenthood.

1/24 | A Very Tall Pat Records Showcase: FRIENDS! FRIENDS! FRIENDS! We have a very special night planned for you on Tuesday, January 24th, courtesy of Tall Pat Records. Comm To Black is back to attack, headlining the evening, with support by local psychedelic headbangers HAIR and songwriting extraordinaire, Joey Rubbish’s newest outfit GIANTOLOGY. DJing for the night is Tall Pat’s DAD, and we all know that dads rock the hardest out of anyone so...

1/25 | Pretty All Right Night: Come through January 25 for a night of DJing, drum machines and dancing! We’re excited to host a celebration of Pretty Alright Records, Tom Owens’s decade-old label dedicated to eccentric experimental electronic music. Owens himself will spin his favorite tunes as DJ Potions to kick off the night before leading into performances by fellow locals WINSTON LASKER, SPA MOANS, and BLU SHAM.

1/29 | FPE Presents: Everyone Has A Voice: Come on, come all - literally EVERYONE is invited to FPE Record’s night, “Everyone Has A Voice”. Turning 5 years old this year, local label, FPE has released a diverse pallet of music thus far including half bro/sis duo ZIGTEBRA and c
lassically trained songbird SYNA SO PRO. Since 2010, ZIGTEBRA has been writing positive catchy pop numbers that would compliment any Wes Anderson film. And is there anything that SYNA SO PRO can’t do? We are very pleased to host this One Woman Musical Enigma, loop artist and multi-instrumentalist on our stage.

Hell ya! Lollapalooza is here and we are stoked about it. This year marks the 25th birthday of the iconic music festival, so get ready to see Lollapalooza cruising in its' new legally rented car? Along with hosting some official after shows for these massively talented artists at Empty Bottle, many of the bands playing at the fest have graced Ye Olde Bottle stage over the years. Check it out...
Modern Baseball The Empty Bottle is excited to welcome MODERN BASEBALL to our stage for the first time Friday, July 29th with Gambier, OH band SPORTS& DJ BETH KLAKO, and. Indie rock quartet MODERN BASEBALL hail from Philadelphia, PA and crank out their own brand of emo, pop-punk tunes--citing some late 90s early 00s as their influences such as SAY ANYTHING, MOTION CITY SOUNDTRACK, and DASHBOARD CONFESSIONAL. Self-recording their first album as college freshman, they have since garnered over 100,000 social media followers and millions of plays on popular streaming services. Their new album, Holy Ghost, was released on Run for Cover Records in May and captures a more refined version of their nostalgia-tinged punk sound. We JUST released more tickets to this show, so hurry on up! (If you miss out, limited tickets will be available with doors at 9 PM). MODERN BASEBALL plays Lollapalooza on Friday. Chairlift We are thrilled welcome back NY synth pop duo CHAIRLIFT on Saturday, July 30th for a Lollapalooza aftershow with New York artist ELA MINUS and DJ OSHWA. CHAIRLIFT have been on our radar since their 2008 breakout hit Bruises which catapulted the band into the ears of millions after being featured in an Apple commercial. Now signed to Columbia Records, they released their third album this past January entitled Moth. On July 22nd, the duo teased new music with the release of a single titled, Get Real. CHAIRLIFTis no stranger to The Empty Bottle stage, having played in both 2008 and 2012. We just opened up more tickets to this show - get 'em before they're gone! (If you miss out, limited tickets will be available with doors at 9 PM). Chairliftplays Lollapalooza on Saturday. Read More »

The Fourth is behind us but we're still moving forward with that special celebration of I-N-D-E... you know the rest. Fireworks are gonna keep sparking up the Empty Bottle stage and these fresh streams will persuade you to get your summer-self on in here. Grab your drink, grab your butt, and enjoy the finest of the fine. Read More »

Two Fresh Streams segments in one month?! You better be grateful. Welcome to January streams round TWO. We are making sure to keep you in check with your emotions while also giving you the opportunity to be saturated in nostalgia with these upcoming releases.
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Hello and welcome to another segment of Fresh Streams. Today we’ve provided quite a range of musical selections to address a number of feelings on your complicated emotional spectrum. There’s a solid chance you haven’t heard some of these albums, because these babies entered the world no more than 3 days ago! So cute.
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Fresh Streams is a new segment we’re doing, which will pop up as it fits with our calendar. On these posts you’ll find album streams of bands that are playing the Empty Bottle in the coming days/weeks/months. For music fans who are constantly inundated with music news and new records, we think this will be exstreamly useful (sorry! / you’re welcome?). There’s a lot to sift through each week, so if we miss something, shoot us a comment with the link and we’ll add it to the list (and maybe even comp you a ticket to that show)… Give a listen to the fresh new albums below — these bands wouldn’t be playing here if we didn’t like em!
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Fresh Streams is a new segment we're doing, which will pop up as it fits with our calendar. On these posts you'll find album streams of bands that are playing the Empty Bottle in the coming days/weeks/months AND also have records streaming on the good old world wide web. For music fans who are constantly inundated with music news and new records, we think this will be exstreamly useful (sorry/you're welcome?). There's lots to sift through each week, so if we miss something, shoot us a comment with the link and we'll add it to the list (and maybe even comp you a ticket to that show)... Give a listen to the fresh new albums below -- they wouldn't be playing here if we didn't like em!
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If you thought we didn’t like writing about Canadian punks, then there's a good chance you've never read this here blog. Canada’s ever-growing punk landscape has become a hotbed for varying guttural acts and the sludgy cult leaders (not actually) in Toronto, Ontario’s post-punk, grimed-out outfit HSY ("Hussy") beg for your ears' attention. This four-headed beast has a few splits under their belt, as well as a self-titled 7-inch and their spankin' new, debut full length, Bask, out September 11 on Buzz Records, is completely out of control.
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On September 10th, 2015 we returned to the Bohemian National Cemetery on the northwest side of Chicago for the fourth installment of the Beyond The Gate series, which Empty Bottle Presents produces alongside J.R. ROBINSON, leader of Chicago doom collective WREKMEISTER HARMONIES. For this end of summer concert, EARTH, DISAPPEARS and HOLY SONS performed on stage and ROBINSON kept the tone in place with cryptic vinyl selections before and in-between bands. It was a thrill to host such this line-up in such a gorgeous and haunting setting, especially since the skies were clear after a long (and stressful) day of rain. We are incredibly thankful and excited that all of the artists were as into the idea of performing in this setting as we are.
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